Floor covering



oct. 27, 1942. C, WRIGHT zl FLOOR COVERING Filed Jan. 9, 1939 I EVER-tml?" E WP Ig ht HitIn-P11555 Patented Oct. 27, 1942 FLOOR COVERING Clarence Wright, Racine,

and mesne assignment Rubber Products Co., hall to Peter L. Cassld Wis., assignor, by direct s, of one-half to Wright Racine, Wis. y, Chicago, Ill.

, and one- Application January 9, 1939, Serial No. 249,984

5 claims.

This invention appertains to floor coverings, and more particularly to novel means for ilnishing of! the edges of a iloor covering at the Walls of a room.

In laying iloor coverings', cork tile, linoleum tile, etc., it is customary to use a cove base at the bottom of the walls, and to butt the tile against the cove base. This necessitates accurate fitting and cutting, and, consequently, the employance of highly skilled and costly help. Even with the employance of such help, a great deal of time is required to properly connect and llt the rubber or other tile against the cove base,

such as rubber tile,

land even then, a neat appearing joint between the tile and base is not assure It is, therefore, one of the salient objects of my invention to provide a novel cove base for the iioor covering, whereby the accurate cutting and iltting of the rubber or other tile is eliminated,

and whereby a tight connection between the base and covering is still insured.

Another important object of my invention is to provide a cove base having a exible foot and a feather-edged or tapered toe for resting on the upper surface of the iloor covering, whereby to hide the raw edge of the covering, and whereby said edge can be placed at different distances (within the limits of the width of the foot) from the wall, the ilexible foot and toe insuring a tight contact between the base and covering, irrespective of deformities in the floor, such as depressions, humps, and the like.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described,claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which drawing:

-Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in section, illustrating the use of my improved cove base, with rubber or other tile or iloor covering.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary, vertical section showing my improved cove base prior to being forced down into intimate tight contact with the floor covering.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, showing irregularities in the space between the tile and the wall, with such irregularities covered by the foot of the cove base.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of thev lTOWS.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view,

- base now in general partly in section, illustrating the type of cove use.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter B generally indicates my novel cove base, and C a iloor covering.

The iloor covering can be linoleum, or rubber I or other showing I composition tile, and in the present have illustrated the covering C as consisting of rubber or rubber composition tile blocks 6. These blocks 6 are secured to the iloor 'l by suitable adhesive in the ordinary manner, and are brought close to the face of the wall 8, it being understood that the .ordinary wooden base or mopboard is dispensed with. As my novel cove base B' is placed against the wall 8 and on top of the tile block 6, the edges of the tile blocks, which are adjacent the wall, do not have to be accurately cut or iitted against the wall, and, hence, the tile blocks can be spaced different distances away from the wall within certainlimits.

My novel cove base B is formed from rubber or other flexible material and includes a vertically disposed elongated body 9, the upper edge of which can be -tapered or rounded oil, as at I0, if such should be desired. The lower edge of the body 9 has formed thereon the downwardly and forwardly extending, angularly disposed flexible foot Il. This foot projects Ia material distance in advance of the body 9 and terminates in a tapered or feather-edged toe I2. One of the important features of my invention is that the foot H and the toe l2 are flexible, and, thus, the foot and toe will conform to irregularities in the surface of the tile blocks.

In use of my cove base, the tile blocks or other iloor covering is laid and cemented in place, with the blocks terminating adjacent the Wall, after which an adhesive is placed on the inner surface of the base B, both on its body and foot. The base B lsnow pressed against the wall and is then forced down tightly so that the foot and toe will be brought into intimate contact with the tile, and during the forcing downof the base B the vfoot and toe will be flexed slightly upward, as

shown in Figure 1, the original position of the base being shown in Figure 2. If there should be a hump in the iloor or tile blocks, as illustrated in Figure 4, the foot' and toe will arch and conform to the curvature of the hump. Thus, it is to be understood that the foot and toe will flex, both longitudinally and transversely.

During the initial placing of the cove base B in position. and after the same has been pushed down so asto flex the foot, a nail or'pin I3 can be driven through the body 9 into the wall 8, so as to hold the cove base B down against slipping up during the setting of the cement or other adhesive.

By my construction and arrangement, accurate cutting and fitting of the wall edges of the tile are eliminated, as the tile blocks can extend different distances from the wall, Aas long as this distance does not go beyond the width of the foot. With my cove base B, the raw edges of the tile blocks are covered, and with my base much material is saved, as well as time and labor.

The flexible foot and toe allows certain movement of the blocks or linoleum incident to shrinkage thereof after laying, without such shrinkage being noticeable to the eye.

In Figure 5, a cove baser I5 of the type now generally employed is shown. As illustrated, the

same is provided with a right-angularly extending foot I6. This foot fits against the meeting angle of the wall and floor. and the tile or other floor covering l1 has to snugly butt against the edge of the foot l5. This requires careful cutting and accurate fitting, tile or covering will be instantly noticed.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or`the scope of my invention but what I claim as new is:

.1. As a new article of manufacture, a onepiece` resilient. molded cove base comprising. a substantially vertically, disposed splashboard body portion of substantial thickness to insure rigidity having a substantially plain. smooth. flat, inner adhesive receiving face throughout its entire area for fitting flat against a wall of a roomy whereby said body portion can be firmly secured to a wall of a room by an adhesive on said face, and a forwardly extending flexible foot on the lower edge of the body normally projecting downwardly therefrom at an obtuse angle, said foot having a front tapered toe and a flat lower adhesive receiving face extending from the tapered toe substantially to the juncture of the foot with the body. said foot flexing on said body at said juncture and in rear of the flat face of the foot when the foot is placed on a floor surface and downward pressure is exerted on the body. whereby to bring the flat face of the foot into intimate sealing contact with the floor surface.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a one-piece, resilient, molded cove base comprising, a substantially vertically disposed splashboard body portion of substantial thickness to insure stability having a substantially plain, smooth, flat, inner adhesive receiving face throughout its entire area for fitting flat against a wall of a room, whereby said body portion can be firmly secured to a wall of a room by an adhesive on said face, and a forwardly extending flexible foot on the lower edge of the body normally projecting downwardly therefrom at an obtuse angle, said foot having a front tapered toe and a flat lower face extending from the'tapered toe substantially to the juncand any movement of the ture of the foot with the body, said foot flexing on said body at said juncture and in rear of the flat face of the foot when the foot is placed on a floor surfaceA and downward pressure is exerted on the body, whereby to bring the flat face of the foot into intimate sealing contact with the floor surface.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a one-piece, resilient cove-base comprising an elongated flexible member of substantially L-shape cross-section, the main portion of said member constituting a flat splash-board body adapted to fit against a substantially fiat support; and the lower lateral portion of saldi-shape member constituting a forwardly extending flexible foot normally projecting downwardly from the body at an angle thereto, said foot having a front tapered toe and having two distinct bottom faces disposed forwardly and rearwardly and in planes oblique to each other and to the body; said bottom faces extending from the tapered toe substantially to the juncture of the foot with the body, said foot flexing on said body at said juncture and in rear of the forward fiat face of the foot when the foot is placed on a floor surface and downward pressure is exerted on the body, whereb;,A to bring the said forward flat face of the foot into intimate sealing Contact with the floor surface.

4. As an article of manufacture, a cove-base member comprising a readily flexible flat body having uniform cross-sectional dimensions through its length and width, the lower edge of said fiat body projecting beyond the front face thereof at an angle oblique thereto and adapted to be flexed t0 engage the surface of a floor, the under surface of said projecting edge formed by continuous fiat outer and rear surfaces that meet in abutting relation and in planes that are oblique to each other, the said under surfaces also normally disposed in a plane oblique to the face of the body, whereby said rear surface of the said projecting edge is free from Contact with adjacent structures and a portion of said outer sur .face will remain in contact with the floor in the event of recession of the latter.

5. The combination with a floor and an upright wall, of a cove base for the joint therebetween, said cove base embodying an elongate flat body adapted to be anchored to the lower portion of the wall; and an outwardly and downwardly projecting flexible foot along the lower edge of said fiat body adapted to engage the top surface of the floor; said foot provided with two distinct bottom faces disposed forwardly and rearwardly thereof, the top face of said foot meeting the forward bottom face normally in a plane below the plane of the meeting portions of said bottom faces, and the forward bottom face adapted to rest in a flexed condition upon the surface of the oor, whereby said forward bottom face will tend to assume its normal position with respect to the flat body in the event of recession of the floor from its normal position.

CLARENCE WRIGHT. 

